Paranoia
by akaisherry47
Summary: When someone doesn't want to go to school.


Disclaimer: The author of this story does not own any copyright material featured in it.

Author's notes: This story was originally posted as an entry for Poirot Cafe's Super Short Contest for December 2018 under the theme "threat." The story is evidently set after Calvados' only appearance and before Clash of Red and Black. This was written as a nod to a particular plot point that was not truly covered between those two arcs. Have not really kept up with the manga nor the films in a while, so expect it to miss a couple of beats. Nevertheless, hope you enjoy this little offering. Thank you for reading.

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**PARANOIA**

_It took a while for deja vu to kick in... Minutes, possibly hours for all she cared... but once the crows began to gather around the festering husk that was once her plump foster uncle, she knew she had to get out of this nightmare fast…_

Ai frantically gasped for air as she was snapped back into reality, her small frame drenched with sweat and trembling beneath her pajamas. Her eyes sparkled like beads amid the lightless room. She had suffered through this terrible cycle of watching the same horror reel and waking up on the wrong side of the bed in the nights that followed the incident at the docks. She had wanted to cry just as many times, but her logi... no… her despaired self abhorred its futility. No amount of tears, not even of blood, could drown away her predators and wipe them out of the narrative like Moriarty's crime ring.

She had resigned herself to Hell that night, just like she did when she picked her own flawed concoction over Gin's lead. And yet, here she was, still dreading her last ordeal, still dreading the ordeals that were sure to come. Kudo-kun must be delusional to think the organization won't be coming after her again anytime soon with the FBI around, seemingly convinced by Feds' ability after they'd managed to take down a codename. But the fact of the matter was that Calvados wasn't a major player at all – his demise only proved how low he was in the organization's pecking order. If he hadn't ended his own misery then, someone else would have done him the favor. There were a least a hundred more agents they could deploy in his and Vermouth's place, codename or otherwise, and despite Kudo-kun's best intentions, she knew the organization too well to cast her deterrents aside.

At least she didn't have to worry about the frivolousness of school – and the outside world for that matter, for the time being. She'd been absent for almost a week, rigged with the convenient excuse of her cold worsening over the weekend and leaving her bedridden. The last thing she wanted was to have the kids, Ran, or anyone else see her in such a pitiful state. She didn't want to put up that brave, snarky face either, only to constantly peer over her shoulder on the way to school and back. Not that home was any safer at this point, what with that duplicitous viper slithering past its aegis and making a fretful mess out of her.

Noone blamed her for being so paranoid. It had only been days since the incident at the docks. But she couldn't help but wonder how long it will take for the pressure to settle down this time, and how long it'll be until the next wave comes.

Suddenly, Ai was gripped with terrible thirst. It was also then that she realized how sticky she had gotten after last night's writhing. "This is the pits," she muttered raspily, pushing herself off of the bed and out of her basement room.

Getting further up the flight of stairs, Ai could hear a wire whisk bouncing against an acrylic bowl echoing across the room beyond, along with the faint noise coming from the television. But as she crept closer to the door and recognized the noise as a news coverage, her legs all of a sudden slowed, betraying her desire for cold water as her nightmares from days past flashed before her eyes. That familiar pressure began to overwhelm her again, telling her to turn tail and go back to bed. She wasn't ready to come back to the relatively peaceful life she was personating just yet…

_But when will you be ready? Will you ever be?_

_"Calm down. You know for sure the professor's just making breakfast. There's nobody else in there,"_ Ai assured herself as she urged her body not to take a step back. _"Vermouth's not stupid to come back so soon…"_ Desperately, she called upon the faces of her newfound friends and family waiting on the other side of the door with blaring smiles plastered on their faces…. People who have saved her from herself and other demons more than once…. People who would not abandon her even if "they" came back… People who, time and again, have earned her faith, if trust was too precious to give so easily…

Faith, although illogical, was comforting enough. Composing herself with a deep breath, She did right by it and opened the door.

Everything seemed normal when she emerged into the main room, much to her relief. Not a thing out of place save for the clutter that was once Professor Agasa's modified washing machine adorning the living room. On reflex her eyes homed into the island kitchen and found Professor Agasa perched in the middle of it, looking like a mountain of lard with his white coat and apron as he poured freshly-beaten eggs onto the pan while tuning into Morning Live 7. "Oh, good morning, Ai-kun," the inventor greeted, noticing her just before he turned the heat on. He did not wait too long for a response as the program shifted from Rena Mizunashi's coverage of some accident that happened at a suspension bridge in Haido last night into the Yoko Okino cooking segment he'd been waiting for.

_"See? I told you… Noone else is here… You're just being petty the whole time,"_ Ai's own condescending voice whispered to her. She knew the crows were out there lurking beneath the shades of this urban jungle, but that was no excuse for being such a pathetic coward who couldn't cast her deterrents aside, let alone settle things on her own terms. _"After all…Fear of death is far worse than death itself."_ She smirked wryly at the thought. Stupid words from a stupid faceless person from her past…

He may have a point this time.

Noone blamed her for being so paranoid. It had only been days since the incident at the docks. But she couldn't afford to be the hunted rabbit forever.

Quenching her shriveled throat with a glass of water from the tap, Ai Haibara headed straight for the shower, deciding to go to school after all.

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The End

written by akaisherry47


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